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Andy Schleck led a long-distance attack to win the 18th stage of the Tour de France on Thursday, a daring bid for the yellow jersey which was retained narrowly by Thomas Voeckler.

Leopard Trek team rider Andy Schleck of Luxembourg celebrates after winning the 18th stage of the Tour de France 2011 cycling race from Pinerolo to Le Galibier-Serre Chevalier on July 21, 2011. (STEFANO RELLANDINI / REUTERS)

Thu., July 21, 2011

LE MONETIER-LES-BAINS, FRANCE — Andy Schleck led a long-distance attack to win the 18th stage of the Tour de France on Thursday, a daring bid for the yellow jersey which was retained narrowly by Thomas Voeckler.

Defending champion Alberto Contador’s final climb was dismal, causing the Spaniard to declare that his chances of a three-peat were over.

“Victory is impossible now,” he said. “I had a bad day. My legs didn’t respond and I just hit a wall. It was a very difficult day right from the start.”

Schleck, a 26-year-old rider from Luxembourg, attacked his top rivals on the second of three gruelling climbs and held on all the way up to the highest-altitude finish in the race’s 108-year history, on the fabled Galibier pass.

“I told the team yesterday that I had this in mind. I wasn’t going to be fourth in Paris,” Schleck said of his place in the standings as the stage began. “I said I’d risk it all. . . . It’s my character: I’m not afraid to lose.”

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“I felt super good today,” he said. “Tomorrow is another day, and I hope to have the yellow jersey.”

Frank Schleck was second on Thursday behind his brother, trailing by two minutes seven seconds, and Cadel Evans of Australia was third over the 201-kilometre route from Pinerolo.

Voeckler was 2:21 behind, the French cyclist, keeping his overall lead by a mere 15 seconds from Andy Schleck. Frank Schleck is third overall, 1:08 back.

Victoria’s Ryder Hesjedal finished the stage in 10th place and moved to 22nd overall, 23:19 behind Voeckler.

“Please let me breathe,” an exhausted Voeckler told journalists at the finish, mustering the strength to raise a fist in joy once he saw he’d kept the yellow jersey. “At 2,650 metres, the oxygen is thin.”

“I limited the damage,” he added. “I went all out.”

Schleck, the Leopard Trek team leader, came in knowing that he would need to gain time on rivals ahead of Saturday’s time trial — a discipline that’s not his specialty.

On Friday, the pack faces the last of three days in the Alps. It again features an uphill finish at the renowned and dreaded Alpe d’Huez.

Ahead of the stage, Contador tweeted in Spanish about “What leg pain!” awaiting on three climbs so tough that they defy cycling’s rating climbs: the Col d’Agnel, the Col d’Izoard and the Col du Galibier.

The pack scaled more than 60 kilometres of total climbs, about one-third of which had a gradient of more than 9 per cent. Tour director Christian Prudhomme called the 23.7-kilometre Col d’Agnel — at 2,744 metres — the hardest climb in this year’s race.

Agnel, the day’s first big climb, wasn’t the site of the showdown. At one point there, Contador drifted back to the race doctor for a check, though it wasn’t immediately clear why.

Instead, Andy Schleck took his chance on Col d’Izoard. After riding behind Leopard Trek teammate Stuart O’Grady, the Luxembourg rider sped out of the main pack about midway up, with 13 breakaway riders ahead.

Contador moved up to the front of the pack but didn’t chase. Neither did Voeckler or Evans, possibly a tactical error that could cost them victory in Paris on Sunday.

The stage showed how teamwork and strategy can be essential. Leopard Trek sent out two riders in the breakaway so they’d be available to escort Schleck in case he could shake his rivals.

With 56.6 kilometres left in the stage, Schleck chiselled out a lead of more than a minute against the contenders and caught his teammate Joost Posthuma, one of the breakaway riders who welcomed Schleck into his wake to go up Izoard.

Schleck crossed the top alone, still behind the rest of the breakaway but about 2½ minutes ahead of Evans, Voeckler and Contador. On the downhill — not one of Schleck’s strengths — Schleck caught up with Belgian teammate Maxime Monfort, who slowed down to escort him.

With 30 kilometres left, nearing the foot of the final climb, Schleck and four other breakaway riders caught Maxim Iglinsky of Kazakhstan, who had ridden solo at the front for much of the stage.

At the foot of 23-kilometre Galibier ascent, Schleck and the five others in the breakaway had extended its lead to 3½ minutes ahead of the pack.

With 10 kilometres left, Schleck was continuing to gain time, and was ahead by nearly 4½ minutes. Evans then attacked the pack, but his speed wasn’t enough to erase the gap of more than a minute.

With 7.8 kilometres left, Schleck was alone with Iglinsky close on his rear wheel but he moved away from the Kazakh to ride alone, gritting his teeth and spitting water slurped from his bottle.

Friday’s Stage 19 features two more “beyond category” climbs. They are up the other side of the Galibier, which wasn’t covered Thursday, and the finish at the Alpe d’Huez after a 109.5-kilometre trek from Modane.

Associated Press

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